Cole was an officer in the British Royal Navy. By the early 1750s, Officer Cole served under Captain Toms, as one of the captain's most trusted men, and chased down pirate ships aboard the HMS Monarch. During the Monarch crew's pursuit of one pirate ship, a Dutch barque named Ruddy Rose, Cole was present with a cold, angry stare as a young sailor named Henry Turner addressed Captain Toms to warn him about sailing into the Devil's Triangle. Despite Turner's warning, the Monarch sailed into the Triangle, where Cole and the crew were massacred by the crew of the Silent Mary.

Biography

Little is known of Cole's life, other than that he joined the British Royal Navy. He eventually became an officer serving under Captain Toms aboard the HMS Monarch, as one of the captain's most trusted men, as they chased down pirate ships. Officer Cole had a cold, angry stare.^[1]

In 1751,^[3] the Monarch hunted down the Ruddy Rose, a Dutch barque stolen and captained by the fearsome pirate Captain Bonnet, in the Caribbean Sea. Cole looked through a spyglass and informed Captain Toms that the Ruddy Rose was sailing into the giant cave in front of them. However, the young sailor Henry Turner, upon realizing that they were heading to the Devil's Triangle, ran to the main deck to warn Captain Toms, telling him that they should avoid entering the Triangle since several ships that entered there would not come out. Cole told Turner that he would not address the captain.^[2]

Suddenly, Petty Officer Maddox, the man in charge of Henry and his shipmates in the bilge, appeared on deck. Maddox proclaimed that Henry was clearly disturbed, pulling several lemons from the boy's pockets as proof. Henry tried to defend himself, saying that lemons ward off scurvy, and Cole snidely asked Turner what made him think that. Henry replied that everyone on the ship had scurvy, except him.^[4] When Henry asked the captain to change the course one more time, Cole ordered his men to lock Turner in a cell but the young sailor tried to change the course by force. He was quickly caught and locked in the brig by Maddox and a pair of Royal Marines.^[2]

Once the Monarch entered the Devil's Triangle, First Officer Wade noticed the remains of Bonnet's Dutch barque. A moment later Cole saw an unknown ship off the starboard bow and alarmed the crew, but Wade said that the ship was just a wreck, and therefore posed no threat to the Monarch. A moment later, Captain Toms noticed that the wreck was sailing straight for the Monarch and ordered the crew to open fire. Despite the heavy cannon fire, the mysterious ship seemed to be indestructible.^[2]

The terrible and ghostly Capitán Armando Salazar and his undead crew quickly appeared on the scene, annihilating the crew of the Monarch and setting fire to the ship. Cole watched in horror as his shipmates were ruthlessly slaughtered, and attempted to back away from the battle, walking backwards to the poop deck. However, he walked straight into one of Salazar's crewmen, who stabbed him in the back, killing him.^[2]

Personality and traits

Officer Cole was a strict Royal Navy officer. He did not hesitate to order the crew to arrest Henry Turner, when the latter "ordered" Captain Toms to change the ship's course, not believing the boy's warnings about the threats that resided within the Devil's Triangle. However, Cole's first encounter with the supernatural turned out to also be his last. When Capitán Armando Salazar and his undead crew attacked the ship, Cole was too shocked to react, which cost him his life.

Behind the scenes

Officer Cole first appeared in media relating to the 2017 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, notably Elizabeth Rudnick's novelization.^[1] Rohan Nichol played the role in the film.^[2] With First Officer Wade absent from the film's novelization,^[1] Officer Cole is the one who notices the remains of the Ruddy Rose in the novel.^[2]

While unconfirmed, it is possible that Cole was named after Olivia Cole, a character who appeared only in Jeff Nathanson's early 2013 screenplay draft for Dead Men Tell No Tales.^[5]

Appearances

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Novelization (First appearance)
  • Pirates des Caraïbes : La Vengeance de Salazar

Notes and references

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Novelization
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16} Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel
4. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Novelization, pp. 25-26
5. ↑ Dead Men Tell No Tales script by Jeff Nathanson, second draft, 5/6/2013